| dc.description.abstract | It is the Kenya Government's policy that most of
its development· efforts will be directed towards the
rural areas where most of the national problems such
as poverty, disease, ignorance and unemployment are most acute. The Government's problem in this regard
has been. how to design a suitable strategy or method
of approach for the development of the rural areas.
As a result,it has tried strategies such as The
Swynnert.on Plan, the settlement schemes, Special
Rural Development Program, a scheduled network of
service and growth centers and more lately, District
Planning
The aim 'of the study was therefore to evaluate
how District Planning, as a strategy for rural development
can't satisfy the various issues involved in rural
development. The critical issues involved 'in rural
development are identified by the study as:
1) Land Tenure and Agricultural Development.
2) Rural settlement patterns and the provision
of Government services such as water, schools.,
health services, roads and electricity •
How are -these services channeled into the
rural areas to benefit the majority of the
people in the rural areas.
3) Peoples' participation in their development.
Is there sufficient 'institutions for peoples'
participation. How are peoples.mobilized to
participate, what is the level of participation?
These issues are, looked at with regard to the Government's existing policies concerning them and how district
planning is capable or not 'of 'resolving them to lead to
material benefits for the people in the rural areas.
The study therefore examines how district plan
projects are formulated, how they are coordinated,
the 'Way they are financed people's' participation in
the planning. All these are considered with the back
ground of the district resource endowments.
The focus of the study is therefore on rural
development and the Issues involved in it. Given
such issues is District Planning capable, of resolving
them so that the problems of poverty, disease, ignorance
and unemployment are minimized or eventually eliminated?
After such analysis,: the problems are identified and alternative policies and strategies for rural development is suggested A model for the development policies and strategies for rural development is suggested .
The thesis of the study is that District Planning,
far from being a strategy for rural development in
Kenya,will only be .away of representing the Ministry
of Finance and Planning down this district level to
co-ordinate the programmes.of other operating Ministries.
After' the study and analysis, there was sufficient
evidence to prove' this,content on this is because
, 1) The machinery for planning below the district
to be very ,weak or non-existent.
2) Peoples' participation in development planning
at the District and even national level is
almost non-existent. In fact most people do
not know that there is district development
committee devoted to district development.
There is absolute lack of knowledge on the
part of the people of;what the government is
doing. This is because of the, absence of an
instrument for mobilizing the people and
through which national policies and programmes
can be formulated,be discussed and their
rationale explained to the people to embrace
and carry them out The inactivity of the
National Party.
3) Rural problems such as poverty, disease and
unemployment are likely to continue and to intensify because national policies that could help alleviate them, ironically encourages more of these problems. These are policies such as:
a) Land Policy - only helps to create land-lessness in, the rural areas.
b) Settlement policies - makes government
services reach only few people.
Industrial Policy. is aimed more at
protecting foreign interests. Even
industrial development, based on growth
centers policy is,difficult to achieve
because the private sector is not
controlled by the policy makers.
Planning has no legal ,backing in,Kenya,
and so can 'not be effective.
d) And there is very little 'that can be done at the
district level to influence the~e policy areas
These are policies that would be decided on at the
nation level and not the' district level.
As a result, it is suggested that only a transformation,approach to rural development that interferes increasingly with the lives of the people in the rural areas will succeed in resolving rural development
problems of poverty, disease, ignorance and unemployment. | |
